Want to produce locally? Incubators are springing up to help connect designers and factories. But these middlemen find the going is not so easy.

As a former accessories designer, Matt Burnett knows firsthand how tough finding a local manufacturer can be. Domestic factories exist, but new designers who want to produce locally don't know where to find them.

So late last fall, Mr. Burnett co-founded Brooklyn-based Maker's Row—an online service that connects U.S. factories—tanneries in Vermont, denim-makers in North Carolina, clothiers in New York and Los Angeles—with emerging designers, small businesses, and even large-scale retailers.

"Even larger companies are working to find domestic manufacturers and suppliers," explained Mr. Burnett, noting the language barriers and long turnaround times associated with overseas production. "Right now, it's easier to find manufacturers on the other side of the globe than here."

A number of manufacturing middlemen have sprung up to help designers produce locally. The City College of New York's Grove School of Engineering launched the Harlem-based Zahn Center for Entrepreneurship last year with grant money from philanthropist Irwin Zahn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office. The center helps digital startups and provides 3D printers for would-be hardware entrepreneurs who want to make objects like medical devices or stereo speakers.

"We're not a make-it space where you go to tinker," said the center's director Haytham Elhawary, a panelist at the Design for Manufacturing summit in Dumbo last Thursday. "We want to nurture an entrepreneurial environment for people who want to start a company."

"When you look at the last 20 years in New Jersey and New York, contract manufacturers have left because of labor costs or environmental concerns, but there's still a very healthy market here of smaller shops," said Frank Russo, co-founder of Fabricating.com.

Though they are in the business of helping entrepreneurs, these manufacturing incubators struggle to make ends meet. Mr. Elhawary charges a $50 fee for prototypes, but noted that the center is "still figuring out how to make money." Mr. Burnett of Maker's Row charges the 1,400 apparel and accessory factories in his network a monthly subscription rate between $50 and $200, but that could change as the company develops and adds features, he said.